Rambert Dance Company, Sadler's Wells, London

2.00

 

News in pictures
News in pictures
On Facebook
Arts & Ents blogs

Brighton Fringe 2012: laughing through the blood, sweat and tears

It has been an emotional journey. The three weeks of intense activity that make up England's larges...

Disclosure: We’d never even been to a club when we made our first single

For most of us, reaching eighteen years of age opens up a new world for exploration, spontaneity and...

Something For The Weekend in London: May 25 – May 27

With 20+ degree weather expected to last all weekend in the capital, we'd be silly not to make the m...

Suggested Topics

In its 85th anniversary year, Rambert Dance Company has plenty to celebrate. Work has just begun on a new home for the company, on London's South Bank. The dancers are in fine form, strong and individual. The bad news is that the two new works on this programme are decidedly iffy.

Mark Baldwin's Seven for a Secret, Never to be Told is inspired by children's play. Baldwin has worked with Nicola Clayton, professor of comparative cognition at the University of Cambridge, on how children think and behave. On stage, this becomes a weirdly old-fashioned view of childhood.

Designer Michael Howells seems to be aiming for The Wind in the Willows: a set with trailing willow branches, costumes with sailor collars, scout uniform detailing or schoolboy caps. Despite Clayton's involvement, the games Baldwin gives his dancers are similarly retro. They skip, they smile, they hold a dolls' tea party. There are some brighter details. Angela Towler brings a toy raven to the tea party, and insists on feeding it jam. Most of the time, this feels like an adult's cosy stereotype of children's games. Clearly, nobody here has ever had a serious sulk over who got which toy.

Baldwin's childhood games limit his choreography, pulling it down into chases and more skipping. Performances are bouncy and accomplished. Stephen McNeff's new score draws on Ravel's L'enfant et les Sortilèges, with jazzy lines from Rambert's own orchestra.

Javier de Frutos's Elysian Fields is a variation on A Streetcar Named Desire, marking the 100th anniversary of Tennessee Williams's birth. The dance is built around Blanche's speech about her husband, who killed himself when she found out about his homosexuality. Gemma Nixon speaks Blanche's lines, sitting perched on an oversized chair, designed by Katrina Lindsay.

Angela Towler is a sensitive Blanche figure, moving in isolation or trying to engage with the other dancers. De Frutos's choreography keeps turning into violence, with assistance from leading fight director Terry King. As a commentary on Streetcar, Elysian Fields has its moments, but struggles to find its own identity. It sags into incoherence and silliness, with too many staged fights.

The evening opened with Merce Cunningham's RainForest, gorgeously danced by this company. Dane Hurst shows huge force in his solo, with darting elegance from Estela Merlos and grand authority from Pieter Symonds. Rambert has superb dancers, whatever it gives them to dance.

Ends tomorrow (0844 412 4300)

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Career Services

Day In a Page

Patrick Cockburn: I fear this terrible massacre will be the beginning of a long civil war in Syria

Patrick Cockburn

I fear this terrible massacre will be the beginning of a long civil war in Syria
Hardeep Singh Kohli: For me, it is all about 'Gregory's Girl', a record of first love

Hardeep Singh Kohli

For me, it is all about 'Gregory's Girl', a record of first love
Christian Louboutin: 'I don't think comfort equals happiness'

Christian Louboutin interview

'I don't think comfort equals happiness'
Happy birthday, Hotel Babylon!

Happy birthday, Hotel Babylon!

Hollywood's home to the A-list celebrates 100 years of discreet luxury
Rupert Cornwell: Low-rise capital could finally reach for the sky

Rupert Cornwell: Out of America

Low-rise capital could finally reach for the sky
The secret life of the red carpet

The secret life of the red carpet

As Cannes reaches its climax with the Palme d'Or and the celebrities gather in London for the Baftas tonight, Kate Youde and Jack Dean investigate the real star of the show
It's not easy being Professor Green: The rapper, the heiress and a drama made in Chelsea...

It's not easy being Professor Green

The rapper, the heiress and a drama made in Chelsea...
Hardcore, hard-wired: How the prevalence of porn is changing our everyday lives

How porn is changing our lives

It's everywhere - from pop videos to fashion magazines to the theatrical stage.
River Phoenix: the final reel

River Phoenix: the final reel

Twenty years after the actor's death, his last film is to be released
Facebook: The shares shenanigans

Facebook: The shares shenanigans

Investors are crying foul over the huge losses they incurred when the social network site floated on the stock market last week
Up and away – how '7 Up' went global

Up and away – how '7 Up' went global

As the last episode of Britain's '56 Up' airs, the first episode of '28 Up', from the former USSR, starts. Then there's the US, Japan, Germany...
You'll soon pick this up: Tuck into Bill Granger's fresh street food

Tuck into Bill Granger's fresh street food

It provides perfect party fare for some fun in the sun...
All to play for: How is Ukraine shaping up ahead of Euro 2012?

How is Ukraine shaping up ahead of Euro 2012?

Peter Popham casts his eye over the state of the Euro 2012 co-host ahead of the tournament.
Red or not, here they come: Artists reimagine the iconic telephone booth

BT ArtBoxes: Red or not, here they come

Artists reimagine the iconic telephone booth...
The Last Word: Premier bullies devise youth system bound to end in tears

The Last Word

Premier bullies devise youth system bound to end in tears